Slab liner



April 30,. 1963 c. HIGHsMlTH SLAB LINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 26. 1960 FIG,4

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FliGl nos INVENTOR CLIFFORD HIGHSMITH "iis ATTORNEYS April 30, 1963 c. HIGHsMm-l SLAB LINER Filed oct. 26. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6

FIG. 7

INVENTOR CLIFFORD HIGHSMITH BY /JJQy/HJ; @412% ,l zu( A TTORN E YS.

United States Patent N 3,087,514 SLAB, LINER Clifford Highsmith, P.0. Box 6461, Windermere, Fla.

Filed Oct. 26, 1960, Ser. No. 65,230

2 Claims. (Cl. 13S- 114) This invention relates to liners and more particularly to devices which are used to line water pipes at points where 4the pipes pass through a concrete slab.

Recent advances in Ithe construction industry have brought about a great increase in the construction of concrete slab buildings. In such buildings a concrete slab Ais poured directly on the ground to serve as a iioor for the building and other concrete slabs may be poured and hoisted into position to serve as succeeding oors of the buildings. Numerous diiiiculties have been encountered in using water pipes or other pipes which pass through the concrete slab. Particular ditliculty has been encountered where copper tubing passes through, and is directly embedded in, the concrete slab.

The most troublesome dii'liculty is that expansion and contraction of the pipe in ya linear or radial direction cracks the concrete around the pipe. Still worse, the linear expansion of the pipes may be so great as to buckle or snap the tubing. Another problem that has been encountered in this type of construction is that where the concrete is not iirmly set around the copper pipe, air spaces appear through which insects, such as termites, may enter the building. This is particularly a problem in the southern part of the United States where slab-type construction is commonly used for houses and where insects are a very real problem. Further, a great deal of difficulty has. been encountered where concrete is set directly around copper tubing. Concrete has an adverse effect on copper and reactions between the lime in the concrete and the copper tubing weaken the tubing and make it even more susceptible to breakage.

In accordance with my invention the above diiculties Iassociated with slab-type construction are overcome by providing ya liner which is embedded directly in the con- 'crete slab and through which the, pipe passes. This liner is constructed so that it absorbs the linear and radial expansion. of the pipe. and inaddition seals the juncture to prevent insects fromentering the building and prevents an undesirable `reaction ybetween the concrete and the pipe.

It is accordingly, an` objectof my invention to provide a simple, inexpensiveliner which can be positioned on a pipe at points at which the pipe passes through a concrete slab or iioor.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a liner for a pipe which prevents expansion and contraction of the pipe from breaking aconcrete slab throughV which the pipe passes.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a liner which provides an unbreakable seal at points where pipes pass through concrete slabs or iloors.

In `accordance with one embodiment of my invention, I provide a slab liner made of copper tubing which has a diameter greater than the diameter of the pipe onto which it is to -be iitted. Each end of the slab liner is reduced to a diameter which provides a slip iit over the pipe. The slab liner is embedded in the concrete at the point at which the pipe is to pass through the slab. If both the liner and the pipe are of copper, both ends of the liner may be soldered directly to the pipe to provide a tight seal. As the pipe expands and contracts, the reduced end sections of the liner absorb the movement of the pipe and the middle `section of the liner remains stationary in the slab.

In accordance with other embodiments of my invention, the conguration of the end sections of the slab liner may take various forms and the slab liner may be made of other materials such as galvanized pipe, plastic, ber and lead.

The subject matter which IY regard as my invention is particularly pointedl out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. My invention, however, together with further objects and advantages may best be understood from the following description ltaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a slab liner in place on a pipe;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional View ofthe slab liner and pipe in place in a concrete slab;

'FIGURE 3 shows a slab liner made of galvanized Plpe FIGURE 4 shows another embodiment of a slab liner; 1 FIGURE 5 shows still another embodiment of a slab iner;

FIGURE 6 shows, in full scale, a slab liner for a one.- half inch water pipe; and

FIGURE 7 shows a slab liner, in full scale, for a threequarter inch pipe.

Referring to FIGURE l, there is shown a slab liner 1 in place on a waterpipe 2. The slab liner 1 is hollow, cylindrical construction and has a middle section 3y of a first diameter and two end sections 4 and 5 which are reduced from the first diameter to a second diameter which provides a slip it over the pipe 2. The construction of the slab liner is better shown in FIGURE 2 which shows the pipe 2` andthe slab liner 1 in section. In FIG- UR-E 2, the slab liner is shown embedded in place in a concrete slab 6.

Where the pipe 2 is copper tubing it may be particularly desirable to provide a slab liner 1 of copper tubing. In the construction of such a slab liner it is mos-t expedient to provide a short length of copper tubing of the desired second diameter and draw and` reduceV each end of the copper tubing to the second diameter which provides a slip fit over the pipe 2. When the copper pipe 2 is positioned in the liner 1 as shown in FIGURE 2,- the slab liner may be soldered to, the copper tubing at the points 7 and 8. This provides a tight seal which is completely impervious. to insects, A s the pipe 2 expands and contracts, rboth linearly and radially,` the walls of theV end sections of the slab liner flex so as to absorb the eXp-ansion and contraction. As the pipe expands and contracts the middle section of theV slab liner remains stationary in the concrete slab 6, thus preventing cracking of the concrete. Where the slab liner is soldered at both ends to the pipe, it is quite important that the end sections of the slab liner be capable of absorbing all the expansion and contraction of the pipe. For this reason the diameter of the middle section of the slab liner must be substantially larger than the diameter of the pipe. This ratio of the first diameter of the slab liner to the second diameter which provides a slip iit over the pipe is an irnportant aspect of my invention. In one actual embodiment of my invention a `slab liner for a 11/2 inch water pipe was constructed of 3%; inch copper tubing reduced lat either end to a slip t on the 11/2 inch pipe. In this embodiment, the ratio of the rst diameter to the second diameter was 1.5 and for best results this ratio should be equal to or greater Ithan 1.5. This actual embodiment is better shown in FIGURE 6 which is a full scale drawing of the slab liner. As shown in FIGURE 6, this slab liner is 'a piece of copper tubing having a threequarter inch diameter as shown at 22. This three-quarter inch tubing has been reduced at either end to a diameter 23 which is a slip t for one-half inch copper tubing. A similar -slab liner for a three-quarter inch pipe is shown in FIGURE 7. This slab liner is made of a piece of one inch copper tubing reduced at either end to a slip it on the three-quarter inch pipe.

Another aspect of this embodiment of the invention which makes the end sections of the slab liner particularly capable of absorbing all of the expansion and contraction of the pipe is that in the process of reducing the ends of the copper slab liner, the walls of the end sections are made thinner than the walls of the remainder of the slab liner. For this reason, the walls of the end sections have a greater ability to ex than the middle section of the Slab liner which remains stationary. This aspect of the invention can be seen, for example, in FIGURE 7 wherein 24 is slightly less than the thickness in the middle portion 25 of the slab liner.

In FIGURE 3, there is shown an embodiment of my invention which may be used with a galvanized pipe although this is not a preferred embodiment of the invention. The slab liner includes two separate end sections 9 and 10 which are reduced to slip iit over the galvanized water pipe 11. The other end of each end section is threaded as at 12 and 13 to receive a threaded middle section .14 of the slab liner. The middle section 14 of the slab liner is embedded in the concrete slab. While the slab liner is not securely fastened to the pipe as was the case with the copper slab liner, each end section does have a long neck portion 15 and 16 which has a slip t to the galvanized pipe 11 so as Ito seal out insects.

FIGURE 4 shows another embodiment of a slab liner 17 which is preferably made of copper to t over a copper pipe 1S. In this embodiment of the slab liner, the end sections of Ithe liner are squared oif and soldered to the pipe at 19. Flexing of the squared off end of the slab liner absorbs all of the expansion and contraction of the water pipe. This embodiment shows another feature which is often desirable in slab liners. The walls of the slab liner 17 are thinner than the walls of the pipe which is to be lined. This allows easier exing of l the slab liner.

Slab liners, particularly of the type shown in FIGURE 4, may be made of various other materials such as plastic or ber. The plastic slab liner may be hollow as is shown in FIGURE 4 or may be solid with a single bore to receive the pipe. In such case, the wall thickness of the plastic liner must be made suicient to absorb the expansion and contraction of the pipe. The slab liner may also be made of fiber which has a slip size tit at the bottom of the slab liner vand is open and flared out at the top. When such a liner is in place on the pipe in the concrete slab, molten lead is poured to form a liner around the pipe. The resulting lead form insulates the pipe from the concrete and absorbs expansion and contraction.

The slab liner shown in FIGURE 5 is preferably constructed of copper ttings and is used to line a copper pipe. In this embodiment, the end sections are separate fittings 20 which are soldered to a tubular middle section 21. In situations in which the slab liner must absorb a great deal of expansion and contraction of the pipe, it may `be desirable Ito put an accordion pleat in the end section of the slab liner as shown in FIGURE 5. However, this is rather expensive and is not usually necessary.

While certain specitic embodiments of my invention have been shown and described, it will, of course, be understood that various other modications may be made without `departing from the principles of the invention. The appended claims are therefore intended to cover any such modications within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A liner for a pipe which extends through a concrete slab comprising copper tubing having two end sections and a middle section, said tubing having a iirst diameter throughout said middle section, the diameter of said tubing being gradually reduced throughout the length of each of said end sections to a second, smaller diameter at each end of said tubing, said second diameter being a slip tit for said pipe, the ratio of said rst diameter to said second diameter being such that each of said end sections can move linearly with respect to said middle section without deformation of said second diameters.

2. A liner for copper tubing which extends through a concrete slab comprising a section of copper tubing having two end sections and a middle section, said section of tubing having a rst diameter throughout said middle section, the diameter of said section of tubing being gradually reduced throughout the length of each of said end sections to a second, smaller diameter at each end of said tubing, said second diameter being a slip fit for the copper tubing which extends through the concrete slab, the ratio of said rst diameter to said second diameter being such that each of said end sections can move linearly with respect to said middle section without deformation of said second diameter.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 191,747 Barrett June 12, 1877 550,232 Wagner Nov. 19, 1895 1,218,895 Porter Mar. 13, 1917 1,651,269 Gnagi Nov. 29, 1927 2,133,091 Gettig Oct. 11, 1938 2,468,902 Villiger May 3, 1949 2,710,677 Ferris Iune 14, 1955 2,765,182 Williamson Oct. 2, 1956 2,878,837 Burtt Mar. 24, 1959 2,938,569 Goodrich May 31, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,152,651 France Sept. 9, 1957 

1. A LINER FOR A PIPE WHICH EXTENDS THROUGH A CONCRETE SLAB COMPRISING COPPER TUBING HAVING TWO END SECTIONS AND A MIDDLE SECTION, SAID TUBING HAVING A FIRST DIAMETER THROUGHOUT SAID MIDDLE SECTION, THE DIAMETER OF SAID TUBING BEING GRADUALLY REDUCED THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH OF EACH OF SAID END SECTIONS TO A SECOND, SMALLER DIAMETER AT EACH END OF SAID TUBING, SAID SECOND DIAMETER BEING A SLIP FIT FOR SAID PIPE, THE RATIO OF SIAD FIRST DIAMETER TO SAID SECOND DIAMETER BEING SUCH THAT EACH OF SAID END 